I, like many many others, learned to knit for Debbie Stoller’s original Stitch ‘N Bitch book. It’s so great to get to come full circle and have one of my own designs published in this most recent one. This book is really the next step for so many knitters. I like what Debbie says in the Introduction; this book shouldn’t be viewed as a book necessarily for “advanced knitters” but one for anyone looking to advance their skills. And Debbie breaks down 21 different techniques in her clear, easily accessible language.

The book itself is separated in to three parts. Part I is all about the techniques. Now I’m a self professed technique junkie and love some of my technique books in my library but even as a technical person I will admit many of them read like stereo instructions. In here methods like Lace, Double Knitting, Colorwork, Cables, Embellishing, Intarsia, Fair Isle, Steeks and Cast-on and Bind-off are all broken down in detail. I really think the first step to becoming a fearless knitter is understanding how things work. The section on decreases alone I think is worth this book.

Part II covers creating your own pattern. When I was getting into knitting design I searched everywhere for whatever info I could find about this. I think this is the most straightforward info I’ve found that covers different garment construction, design considerations and the harder to find knitty gritty math.

Part III of course is the awesome patterns, 41 of them. These patterns give you opportunities to try out the techniques you just learned and include all kinds of accessories and garments from child to adult.

I admit I have a bit of a baking addiction. Since I’m trying to cut down on baked sweets, and can only foist so much sugar upon my co-workers before I fear they’ll start to hate me, I was thinking about alternatives. After literally tripping over our dog I remembered dog recipes. I could bake something for a pup Aejaz, and actually feel good giving him something with no fillers, or other junk.

While I didn’t have any cute dog bone shaped cookie cutters, I do have lots of Halloween ones. Some festive bats worked perfect and I’m pretty sure Aejaz is happy with any shape. These could probably be called Drool Biscuits.

In a large bowl, or stand mixer, combine all ingredients together into a thick dough.

Knead on a floured countertop (or with dough hook) for about 4 minutes until the dough is nice and smooth.

Sprinkle a little more flour over the dough to make rolling easier.

Roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thickness.

Use cookie cutters or a small drinking glass to stamp out shapes. Alternately, you can use a pizza cutter to cut into squares.

Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for about 22 minutes. At this point they will still be moist. If you prefer them drier (keep longer) cook for 5 more minutes then turn off oven and let sit for 20-30 minutes.

I don’t usually care for eggs, but there’s something about this style of egg curry I just love. After perusing online recipes and watching my Mother-in-law while she was here, I came up with my own version to match what I’ve remembered. Mr. PieKnits is from the Indian state Andhra Pradesh, and like most places, it has it’s own regional style of cooking. This matches closer to what you’d get as “home-cooking” vs. what you’d find at an Indian restaurant.

6. Add spices, tamarind water and 1 cup additional water bring to a boil then down to simmer for 5-10 minutes.

7. Add in eggs and season with salt, simmer an additional 4-5 minutes.

8. Just before serving, sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

9. Serve with hot rice (Basmati or Sona Masuri) or Roti and enjoy!

Note on ingredients: If you can’t get or find some of these spices/ingredients feel free to substitute or omit. Don’t let it stop you from trying Indian. There are no definitive recipes for curries! Every house has their own way, so experiment.

I’ve been chipping away at the hip scarf; it’s an easy pattern but somewhat monotonous for long stretches. Unfortunately, it’s not very exciting to show in progress, lace being the tangled looking mess of string it is on the needles.

I have an idea to try spraying it with sparkle fabric paint for a some extra glitz. Thinking it’ll probably be best to test that idea on a swatch, anyone ever used the stuff before?

And in completely unrelated other news- I got glasses!

Hopefully now I will not have to sweat it through my next eye test at the drivers license office, heh.

I’m still here, just been summer busy! I do have a few things finished, just yet to get to taking some photos. In the meantime I thought I’d share a cake I made and decorated for a friends wedding shower. I love food decoration. I think I just never grew out of wanting to play with my food.

The couple is having a destination wedding so my other friend and I who hosted went with a beach theme. I tinted the frosting (I’ll admit it’s from a can. Not being a huge icing person myself I rather dislike making it from scratch). Then I made the shells from melting white chocolate and pouring it into molds. I then dusted them with edible gold dust/luster, pretty!

The “sand” is crushed vanilla wafers with a bit of brown sugar. This was also my first layer cake. My Mother always considered layer cakes the enemy, having terrible luck with them. So I had yet to venture trying on until now. With some handy internet tips think it turned out ok!

Also got a group shot of my bellydance class from our recent Spring recital. Shows us all wearing our handmade headbands I posted about last time. I had a great time and think we did pretty good!

Lately I seem to be spending more time with belly dance and thus less with knitting so I thought why not combine the two. Ok, so not knitting while dancing, but knitting a dance item to clarify.

Here we have the beginnings of my new hip scarf! It’s a bit further along now than this photo (I’m behind, re: above). The pattern is the Faux Spanish Lace shawl (Raverly download) that I plan to knit to a size that ties around my waist. The edge will be finished off with beads and tassels as well. I love the color of this yarn, a great thrift store find. It’s the same I used for my zill covers, matchiness!

The weekend before last I was lucky enough to take a class at the DFW Fiberfest – “Photograph Finished Items & Fiber” from the wonderful Franklin Habit. It was just what I needed as my Nikon D80 and I have had a slow start to our relationship. I feel we understand each other better now. Bonus was I got to use my lovely B-day gift (thanks Sis!) this awesome camera bag from Photojojo. While my standard bag is great if I need to carry all my gear, not so much if I want to take it somewhere casual and not look like a wedding photographer.

A good friend of mine started “cook through” blog awhile back where she is cooking her way through The Joy of Cooking. Although I read several “foodie” blogs I really enjoy her posts. As she is someone who wanted to start learning how to cook and just started at it, which is exactly what I did, learning as I went.

One of her posts that I kept thinking about was for “Nutty Meringue Kisses“. Airy crunchy cookies studded with pecans that are surprisingly low in fat, sign me up! So I got out my copy of The Joy of Cooking I scored at the thrift store but alas, that recipe wasn’t in my version!

From her description of the recipe I set out scouring the web to find something that sounded similar. The inclusion of almond extract is what really sold me, I love almond extract! I could not find a recipe that looked spot on but I found a decent looking one and modified it. They were worth the hunt, delicious. They even earned a rare Mr. PieKnits approval (he typically doesn’t eat sweets).

Pecan Meringue Cookies

2 egg whites

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon
vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2/3 cup superfine or granulated sugar

1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped

1. Preheat oven to 250°F. Cover baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Beat egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed until foamy. Add the salt and continue to beat/whisk at high speed until the whites barely hold soft peaks.

3. Gradually add sugar, approximately 2 tablespoons at a time, beating in each addition until mixture is stiff and shiny and stands in peaks.

4. Beat in extracts (can use all vanilla, all almond or half and half like I
did). Fold in pecans.